Non-volatile taste active compounds in the meat of river snail (Sinotaia quadrata) determined by 1H NMR, e-tongue and sensory analysis

To investigate the non-volatile taste-active components in the meat of river snail, free amino acids, nucleotides, organic acids, soluble sugars and alkaloids in cooked meat were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR). Their taste active values (TAVs) and equivalent umami concentration (EUC) were calculated to evaluate the key taste-active compounds and umami attribute, respectively. The results suggested that 33 metabolites were detected by 1H NMR, among which the TAVs of 9 compounds were greater than 1.0. The EUC was 13.19 g MSG/100 g (MSG, monosodium glutamate), indicating that umami taste of the meat was very intense. In order to find out the key taste-active compounds, the e-tongue was used by addition and omission experiments. Finally, sensory evaluation (flavour profile method and quantitative descriptive analysis) was carried out to confirm key taste-active compounds. The key taste-active compounds in river snail meat were determined to be arginine, glutamate, lysine, alanine, glycine, threonine, IMP, AMP, GMP, succinate and acetate, and the characteristic taste of river snail meat could be mimicked by these 11 key taste-active compounds. This research might be helpful for developing the products of river snail.